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There are reports that Japanese diplomats laughed at the president in vulgar language, and the president’s plan to visit the Tokyo Olympics was cancelled.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in will not visit Tokyo at the upcoming Olympic Games, which will cancel his plan to meet with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga for the first time.
Seoul protested Friday’s news report, saying that after a senior diplomat at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul called Moon Jae-in a “masturbation” in describing his efforts to improve relations between the two countries, he announced this on Monday. news.
“President Moon decided not to visit Japan,” Moon Jae-in’s press secretary Park Soo Hyun said at a briefing.
“The Tokyo Olympics is a peaceful festival for people all over the world, and we hope Japan can host it safely and successfully.”
The latest riots have further intensified the disputes between the two countries over territorial claims and wartime history, dashing any hope that the Tokyo Olympics may provide a new starting point for bilateral and regional cooperation.
Japan’s “Yomiuri Shimbun” reported earlier on Monday that Moon Jae-in will meet Yoshihide Suga in Tokyo on Friday to catch up with the opening of the Olympic Games. But the two governments quickly denied that the meeting had been finalized, and Moon Jae-in’s office called it a “last-minute obstacle.”
The newspaper said that after reporting Moon Jae-in’s comments, Japan also plans to replace its diplomats in Seoul. The top Japanese government spokesperson said that the ambassador warned his deputy about the reported remarks.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said at a regular briefing: “As a diplomat, these remarks are inappropriate, and we think this is very regrettable.” When asked about reports about the dismissal of diplomats, Kato said this was a matter of the foreign minister and did not provide more details.
Kato added that the summit between the two leaders has not yet been decided, but if Moon Jae-in decides to visit, Japan will accommodate him. South Korea’s Deputy Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun summoned Japanese Ambassador Sang Bao Hoichi to protest on Saturday.
Long-term dispute
Since the Supreme Court of South Korea ordered some Japanese companies to compensate South Korean forced laborers for their hardships during Japan’s colonial rule on the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945, relations between Seoul and Tokyo have been tense.
When Japan imposed export controls on chemicals vital to the South Korean semiconductor industry in 2019, these rulings led to a further increase in trade tensions.
Seoul accused Tokyo of weaponizing trade and threatened to terminate the military intelligence sharing agreement with Tokyo. This is an important sign of their trilateral security cooperation with Washington.
Under the pressure of the Trump administration, South Korea finally backed down and continued to reach an agreement. Before that, the Trump administration seemed content to let its allies escalate their discord in public.
Since the inauguration of US President Joe Biden, the two countries have been working hard to improve relations. He called for strengthening tripartite cooperation in the face of the North Korean nuclear threat and challenges posed by China. But progress is slow, and as the Olympics approach, friction between the two countries continues.
Saturday, the Korean Olympic Committee Remove banner In the Tokyo Olympic Athletes Village, the 16th-century South Korean admiral was mentioned. After the International Olympic Committee ruled that they were provocative, he repelled the invading Japanese fleet.
When agreeing to remove the banner, the South Koreans stated that they had received a promise from the International Olympic Committee to ban the display of the Japanese “Rising Sun” flag in stadiums and other Olympic venues.
This flag depicts a 16-ray red sun extending outward. It was dissatisfied by many people in Korea and other parts of Asia, who regarded it as a symbol of Japan’s wartime history.
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